Turnstile



H. B. STUART Oct. 29, 1935 TURNSTILE Filed May 25, 1934 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR lvl1/llll III flamera Stuart Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED STT ET OFF! 1;.

TURNSTILE Application May 25, 1934, Serial No. 727,405

8 Claims.

This invention relates to turnstiles, and particularly to turnstiles which permit the turnstile arms to swing down as they complete forward travel and raise them as they complete rearward travel, thus reducing the space required for installation of the turnstile and permitting an attendant or cash box or both to assume a position quite close to the passage through the turnstile.

An object of the invention is to provide a stationary support for the rotating arms, maintaining them horizontal as they travel forwardly and camming them to their raised positions, as they complete rearward travel.

Another object is to provide a latch for the turnstile, adapted for pedal control by an attendant.

A further object is to project said latch independently of control by the attendant during each quarter-turn of the turnstile, so as to positively require a release of the latch prior to each admission through the turnstile.

These and various other objects the invention attains by the construction hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an axial, sectional elevational view of the improved turnstile.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the turnstile head, arms, and arm support.

Fig. 4 is an axial, sectional elevation of the upper portion of the turnstile, showing a retracted position of a primary pawl, which limits each actuation of the turnstile. V V

.Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and particularly showing a pawl and ratchet mechanism regulating rotation of the turnstile.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a ratchet wheel, which coacts with said pawl, showing also an element carried by said wheel, and springs coacting nates the turnstile pedestal, which has an enlarged base 2. The pedestal is hollow and interiorly receives a tubular shaft 3, projecting above the pedestal and also into the base, which is likewise hollow. Rigidly mounted on said shaft, just above the pedestal is a head 4, carry- 5 ing the turnstile arms 5, whereof there are four, arranged ninety degrees apart. The inner ends of the arms individually engage in slots 6 radially extending from the periphery of said head and are pivoted on pins 1 to swing in said slots from 10 their radial positions of use to vertical positions below said pins and adjacent to the pedestal. During forward travel of the arms, their radial positions are maintained by an approximately semicircular plate 8, disposed beneath the inner 16 ends of the arms and fast upon the upper end of the pedestal, and it is preferred to journal on each arm a roller 9 to engage said plate. Said plate has a front radial edge In and a rear radial edge I I, said edges being in approximately diame- 20 trical relation, and as each arm completes forward travel, its roller 9 rides off of the edge l0, allowing lowering of the arm, and as the arms complete rearward travel, their rollers ride up on the edge II to restore the radial positions of 25 the arms. The edges l0 and H are beveled to suitably prolong the lowering and raising movement of the arms, the angle of bevel preferably approximating forty-five degrees at the intersections of said edges with the outer periphery of 80 the plate 8, and decreasing toward the vertical as said edges extend inwardly. See Figs. 9 and 10). As is apparent from Fig. 3, the edges ill and II have a slight divergence to the vertical plane determined by the front and rear limiting 3 positions of the arms, so that the latter descend in approaching their foremost positions and are raised in approaching their rearmost position.

Above the head 4 is fixedly mounted a horizontal plate 12, wherein the shaft 3 turns freely. Said plate maybe variously supported and held from rotation, this being accomplished, as illustrated, by attaching said plate to a housing l3, which is clamped at M upon a guard rail l5 spaced above the pedestal. A sheet metal disk or washer i6 is interposed between the plate l2 and head 4 and is preferably secured to the latter, the inner ends of the arms 5 being overlapped by said disk and the arms being thus restrained from any upward action from their horizontal positions of use.

Above the plate l2, a four-toothed ratchet wheel I! is fast on the shaft 3 and is normally engaged by a sliding primary pawl l8. Said pawl is mounted in a slide guide is surmounting and rigidly secured to the plate l2 and is urged toward the ratchet wheel by a coiled spring 26.

Fast upon the tubular shaft 3 and preferably integral with the ratchet wheel, therebeneath, is a four-sided element 2! with which is freely engaged a pair of normally parallel leaf springs 22 secured to the housing I9. Said springs and element coact to urge the shaft and turnstile to some one of their four stationary positions and to oppose a slight resistance to disturbance of such positions.

For controlling the pawl l8, a push rod 23, vertically slidable within the shaft 3, rests freely at its lower end on one extremity of a lever 24, pivoted at its mid portion on the base and projecting at its other end beyond the base to form a foot pedal. The latter is normally slightly elevated above the floor, and when depressed is adapted to slightly lift the push rod. The upper end of the push rod normally engages (or closely approaches) one arm 25 of a bell-crank lever having its other arm 26 arched or bifurcated to straddle the slide-guide I9. The furcations 25 are pivoted at 21 on the slide-guide and a second ary pawl 28, pivoted on said ball-crank lever between the upper portions of its furcations is terminally engageable with a shoulder 29 of the pawl l8 to retract the latter when the push rod is lifted.

The slide-guide l9 comprises a pair of spaced bridging strips 30 and 30a, engaging above the primary pawl l8 and preventing its upward shifting, the shoulder 29 being exposed between said strips for engagement by the secondary pawl 28.

.As retraction of the primary pawl is completed,

the secondary pawl is automatically raised to dis engage said shoulder, the secondary pawl preferably riding on the bridging strip 30a to accomplish this result. To facilitate the desired coaction between the secondary pawl and bridging strip 36a, the upper portion of the end face of said pawl is preferably beveled and the top face of the strip 36a is correspondingly beveled, as best appears in Figs. 7 and 8. To yieldably urge the secondary pawl downwardly to its position for retracting the primary pawl, it is preferred to engage the former by the free end of a flat spring 35 secured at its other end upon the bellcrank arm 25.

Upon the described release of the primary pawl, it is desired to prevent projection of the latter until the turnstile has been advanced from one effective position so that it may reach the next effective position before the primary pawl takes effect on the ratchet wheel. Thus, there is pivoted on the housing Is, at one side thereof, a locking dog 32 formed at its mid portion with a lug 33 projecting into the housing 19 and urged laterally against the primary pawl by a flat spring 34 bearing on said dog. As the primary pawl is released from the secondary pawl the lug 33 snaps into a socket 35 laterally opening in the primary pawl, and thus positively maintains the retracted position of such pawl. Upon a slight rotative advance of the turnstile from any of its four effective positions, the ratchet tooth which is then approaching its locking position, engages the free end of the dog 32 and cams said dog clear of the primary pawl, permitting projection of the latter by its spring 28. Thus it is positively assured that the primary pawl will be in a position to engage the intended tooth of the ratchet wheel upon completion of each quarter turn of the turnstile.

From the preceding description, it is apparent that the turnstile arms maintain their horizontal position only during their forward travel, dropping during rearward travel into such proximity to the pedestal as to permit an attendant or cash box to occupy a position closely adjacent 6 to the pedestal at its side opposite to the turnstile passage.

It is also apparent that following upon a retraction of the primary pawl due to depression of the pedal extremity of the foot lever 24, a 10 projection of said pawl is automatically effected following on a slight rotative advance of the turnstile, whether or not the attendant releases said foot lever.

The invention is presented as including all 15 such modifications and changes as properly come within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is;

l. A turnstile comprising rotatable arms, a ratchet wheel rotatable with said arms, a 20 pawl coacting with said ratchet wheel to successively establish effective positions of the arms, means yieldably urging said pawl toward the ratchet wheel, means for retracting said pawl, and a member automatically engageable 25 with the retracted pawl to temporarily maintain its retraction and automatically disengageable from the pawl by the ratchet wheel upon a predetermined advance of the turnstile from any of v its effective positions. 30

2. A turnstile comprising a plurality of arms rotative as a unit, a ratchet wheel rotative with said arms, a pawl coacting with said ratchet wheel to successively establish the efiective positions of said arms, means yieldably urging said 85 pawl toward the ratchet wheel, a dog pivoted at one of its ends and coacting between its ends with said pawl to hold the pawl temporarily retracted, the other end of said dog coacting with the teeth of the ratchet wheel to automatically {0 release the pawl as each tooth of the ratchet wheel approaches its effective position.

3. A turnstile comprising a plurality of arms rotative as a unit, a ratchet wheel rotative with I said arms, a primary pawl directly coacting with 46 said ratchet wheel, means yieldably urging the primary pawl toward the ratchet wheel, mechanism for retracting the primary pawl including a secondary pawl engageable with the primary pawl, means for automatically disengaging the 50 secondary from the primary pawl in a retracted position of the primary pawl, and means releasable through a predetermined advance of said arms for temporarily retaining the primary pawl I in retracted position. 56

4. A turnstile comprising a hollow pedestal, a hollow-shaft journaled in said pedestal, a plurality of arms mounted as a unit upon said shaft above the pedestal, a ratchet wheel fast on said shaft above said arms, a pawl coacting with said 60 ratchet wheel, means yieldably urging said pawl toward the ratchet wheel, a push rod mounted in said hollow shaft, a foot lever effective on the lower end of said push rod to lift said rod, and a member engageable by the upper end of said rod 65 for retracting said pawl when the rod is lifted.

5. A turnstile comprising a hollow pedestaha hollow shaft rotative in and projecting above said pedestal, a plurality of arms mounted as a. unit upon said shaft above the pedestal to rotate with the shaft, a ratchet wheel fast on said shaft above said arms, a primary pawl directly coacting with said ratchet wheel, a push rod mounted in said hollow shaft, a foot lever coacting with the lower end of said push rod to lift said rod, a lever 9.0-

tuable by the upper end of said rod when the rod is lifted, and a secondary pawl carried by said lever and coacting with the primary pawl upon actuation of said lever to retract the primary pawl.

6. A turnstile comprising a hub rotative about a substantially vertical axis, a plurality of arms pivoted on the hub to assume positions either radial to or downwardly projecting from the hub, and a member fixed beneath the hub and primarily at one side of said vertical axis, and supporting the arms in their radial positions during their forward travel, and having approximately opposite edges, substantially radial to such axis, across which edges the arms ride to effect their lowering and raising, substantially upon commencement and completion of their rearward travel, said edges being beveled at an acute inclination to the vertical, and the inclination of each edge to the vertical being progressively decreased toward the axis of rotation, whereby the raising and lowering of said arms is prolonged and rendered gradual.

'7. A turnstile comprising a hub rotative about a substantially vertical axis, and notched inwardly from its periphery, a plurality of arms,

individually engaging at their inner ends in the notches of the hub, means pivoting the arms on the hub to swing in the notches from positions radial to the hub to downwardly projecting positions, a member fixed beneath the hub, and primarily at one side of said axis, supporting the arms in radial positions, during their forward travel, and having approximately opposite edges, substantially radial to such axis, across which edges the arms ride to effect their raising and lowering, and a member secured to the top face of the hub, and bridging the notches to restrain the arms from upward swinging about their pivoted ends.

8. A turnstile comprising a hollow pedestal, a hollow shaft rotative in and projecting above the pedestal, a plurality of arms mounted as a unit on the shaft above the pedestal to rotate with the shaft, a ratchet wheel fast on the shaft above the arms, a pawl coacting with the ratchet wheel to resist rotation of the shaft, a push rod mounted in the hollow shaft, means for elevating the push rod, and. a lever engageable by the push rod above the ratchet wheel and effective on the pawl to retract it from the ratchet wheel.

HOMER B. STUART. 

